Passive Resistance
by DragonScouter
Summary: Dunce is an outcast of the Autobots. He is bullied and he doesn't believe in fighting back unless in self-defense or to defend others who couldn't defend themselves. While his existence is difficult, he works to please those around him. However, his existence is turned on its helm when the Decepticons escape Trypticon Prison. Re-write of Passive Aggression. T 'cause I paranoid.
1. Arriving on the Dancefloor

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Authoress: Even though this is a new story I get to bring some bots in now! *jumps excitedly***

 **Jazz: Why?**

 **Authoress: Birthday request! And it's from one of my biggest supporters!**

 **Jazz: *smiles* Then we have to sing awesomely!**

 **Everybody and Everybot: *sing* Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Authoress' Brother! Happy Birthday to you!**

 **Authoress: *smiles and cries* Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate this!**

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 **AN: I only did a request to start a new story because this is from my brother. He is the _only_ one who is allowed to do this.**

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Chapter 1: Arriving on the Dancefloor

 **Jazz's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"So why'd you do it?"

I glanced at the barkeeper in front of me, known as Slapjack, before I picked up my energon cube and took a sip of it. It had been seven solar cycles since Optimus team had returned to Earth, including some new bots along with the resurrected Prowl, and I found myself coming in here when I wasn't on shift and one of my teammates couldn't hang out with me.

It was strange to think that, just six solars ago, Prowl had been offline. But, when we were at the burying ceremony, a light had enveloped Prowl's coffin and, when it disappeared, the cover of the coffin was off and Prowl was back with us…alive and well. While he hadn't remembered much of his time in the Well, my friend did remember being encased in a warm light before a voice had told him that it was not his time to offline.

The question he was asking me was connected to Prowl, somewhat, but wasn't as directly connected as most would assume. Once I placed my cube of energon down, I asked the mech the question I was sure he was asking me back. "Why'd I rejoin Sentinel's team?"

Dark blue optics stared at me before their owner, Slapjack, nodded. "That's right. I've got my sources and they said that you had left his team before the famous battle on Earth. But, now, you've returned even though most bots with a working processor who are able would steer clear of that power-hungry maniac."

Normally talk like that would be looked down upon…even if it _was_ about Sentinel, but I knew better. Slapjack was older than his chassis let out and he had known Sentinel back when he was a cadet in boot camp. Knew that entire team actually. He would have the most right out of any bot to make comments about Sentinel and get away with them. Plus, I couldn't say that he was wrong.

I took another drink of my energon before answering him. "I came back because I am needed here. There are those that depend on me to watch out for them. When I left the first time, I didn't realize how important I was in keeping balance in our team. But, I found out all too well when I returned with Optimus' team." The team had been ready to tear itself apart and I had to help keep one of our newer members from strangling Sentinel the nano that I met with them.

…That had been a long day.

Before I could continue to talk with Slapjack, a private message came onto my HUD. " _Jazz, report to the Steelhaven immediately! The Decepticons have escaped! That's an order!-Sentinel."_

I couldn't believe what I was reading but, when an explosion suddenly sounded from outside, both Slapjack and I ran out to see what was going on. When I opened the door to his bar, I felt my optics widen in shock at the sight in front of me. In the streets bots of all kinds were screaming and running away from a specific area. Smoke billowed into the sky and, as I traced the origin of the smoke to a hole in the 'indestructible' Trypticon Prison. That must have been a secondary explosion to distract our prisoner recovery team since Sentinel had informed me of the escape before the second explosion went off.

Without explaining what was going on to Slapjack, I sprinted down the platform in front of the bar's door before weaving through the panicked femmes and mechs. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. We had just captured Megatron and his higher command, which was a large blow to the Decepticons, and now it looked like we had just been attacked so Megatron could escape.

Within ten clicks, I arrived at the shipyards and saw that the gangplank to the Steelhaven was already lowered and the bots from our team were starting to board. The first on was Sentinel and I could see that he was not happy about this situation. Of course, he probably didn't like the suddenness of the escape.

I barely saw Blurr as he ran on board the ship. When the Decepticons had revealed what they had done to Blurr, while they were on trial, medics were immediately sent to the disposal site and we were lucky that Blurr was still alive. When he was repaired, I was surprised that the previous intelligence agent decided to come onto Sentinel's team. I figured that he must have some processor issues after what happened to him so a part of the reason that I came back was to keep an optic on the speedster.

After him walked Jetfire and Jetstorm and they seemed excited about something. They probably had more information on what was going on than I did. Of course, they could just be excited about playing a prank. The two of them had recently picked up the habit of pranking from some members of the Elite Guard and now they were unstoppable. Hopefully, since Sentinel was in a very irritable mood, they would at least hold off on the pranks until we got to whatever planet we were bound for.

After the two of them walked up I reached the bottom of the gangplank and watched as the second to last member besides myself walked aboard. He was a tall black car mech…the tallest mech on our team, and he had red markings on his helm and hips. His faceplate was white and his optics were a medium blue. His battle visor, when on, was a light blue.

The bot's name was Dunce and he was the main reason that I returned to Sentinel's team. While the mech was very kind…he wasn't a fighter. Don't get me wrong, I had seen him once defend himself when he was attacked before I could reach him. But, he did not believe in striking a bot first. Actually, he tried to avoid battle in general when he could. Of course, that wasn't helped by the fact that Dunce had only completed one solar of boot camp before he was placed as Sentinel's personal errand bot.

And strangely enough, whenever I would see Dunce and Sentinel in the same room, Dunce was always afraid of Sentinel. He would follow Sentinel's orders without hesitation and he would be very cautious when dealing with the Prime. That confused me because Dunce had a frame structure that would definitely be able to take Sentinel on.

"Looks like we get to go on the bot hunt." I had started to climb the gangplank when that voice came from next to me. Our other new member, Setophis, walked next to me and motioned toward the group of bots loading on the ship. "I'm not sure how this team was able to become so formed, but I feel like this will be a very interesting experience." He then slowly walked ahead of me an onto the ship. The dark blue car mech with black markings was barely taller than I was and his dark blue optics seemed to always be holding the secrets of the universe. He had joined Sentinel's team about four solars ago and, from what I had seen, he seemed trustworthy. Setophis had hit up a strange friendship with Blurr and he wasn't mean to Dunce. Those were two pluses for the bot…well, in my processor at least.

I boarded the Steelhaven and, as I walked to the bridge, I thought about Dunce. Most bots on Cybertron hated him and I never understood why. Sure, the bot didn't come from the Well but from two creators. So what? He was still a Cybertronian just like the rest of us. But, from how most bots treated the mech, you would think that he was the progeny of Unicron.

But, I would make sure that he was treated respectfully while I was here. While the bot didn't have any formal training, I knew that he had so much potential and I just wished that somebot else would one solar realize that.

 **Dunce's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I shifted nervously on my seat as the Steelhaven flew through space as we followed the thinning ion trail that the Decepticons left behind. While I knew that fighting was a part of the Autobot way, I was nervous about what we were going to come across. I couldn't afford to make Sentinel upset with me during this trip. He had…shown me the advantages to never upsetting your superior officer. It had only taken a few lessons from Sentinel to allow me to see my place in the Autobot cog.

"It seems like we are losing the ion trail." The sudden breaking of silence by Setophis' question caused me to jump slightly in my seat. When I was around those in command, I tended to lose observance of what was going on around me.

A shiver traveled up my spinal strut, though I didn't let it show, when Sentinel slammed his servo down and glared at the visual of space in front of us. "I will recapture those Decepticons. I have very little doubt in their intended destination."

Really? How did he already know? I knew not to question my commanding officer out loud…another lesson Sentinel made sure to make sure I knew. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one curious about how Sentinel Prime knew we were on the right track. "And where exactly do you believe the Decepticons are heading?" Setophis sounded like he was almost taunting Sentinel. That was a dangerous thing to do but I couldn't warn him. If Sentinel ever caught wind that I warned Setophis about him…then he would teach me another lesson. And Sentinel was a very harsh 'teacher' when it came to repeat lessons.

My chassis stayed tense as Sentinel let off a low growl and motioned toward space. "The Decepticons seemed to get just as attached to that mudball planet called Earth as Optimus' fragmented team has. Even his new members are freaks." He mumbled that last part to himself but, since I had to train myself to listen for even the quietest order from Sentinel, I had heard him call them freaks. Since Sentinel called me a freak often enough…could these bots on Earth be friendly? The team I was on now was nice for the most part but Sentinel made everything terrible.

"That's a quick trip by space bridge." Jazz joined the conversation. I could see that Jetfire and Jetstorm looked excited to go to Earth.

Honestly, I was excited too. This was my very first time off world and I wanted to enjoy every nano that I could. I wanted to see new things, meet new beings, and maybe find some more bots who were nice. All three of those prospects made me excited about getting to Earth. During the conversations we had on the planet, I knew that Jazz had a lot of fun there and I bet it was going to be amazing.

"Dunce," I immediately stood at attention as Sentinel stated my name and stood. "I will be going to my quarters. Bring me a cube of energon quickly. The rest of you, don't disturb me until something important happens."

I wasted no time and immediately ran toward the energon storage bay of the ship. Since Sentinel had asked me to bring the energon to him in his room, then I knew I only had until he reached his door to get it to him. Otherwise, I would be too slow. I could not spill any or I would be clumsy. Both of those were qualities that Sentinel did not tolerate and would show his displeasure about immediately.

Thankfully, it didn't take me long to get the cube and mark it off the register. My pedesteps were quick and light as I made my way through the Steelhaven and toward Sentinel's quarters. I knew that I was going to be cutting my timing close but I felt like I was going to make it. I might actually,

My spark fell in fear when I saw Sentinel standing in his doorway, an upset look on his faceplate that was directed straight at me. While I was afraid, I had been 'trained' by Sentinel to not waste any time in getting his energon to him…even if it was at a slower time than he expected. "Y…Your energon Sentinel Prime sir." I then handed the cube out toward him.

His cold blue optics stared at me and the energon in my servo before he took the cube with his left servo and set it on a stand that I knew was on his right. I cleaned his room often enough and knew where everything was in there. It was a necessity if I was asked to retrieve something for him from the room. I watched as Sentinel seemed to turn to look at something in his room. Why was he,

An echo of pain shot through the hall of the Steelhaven before the burning sensation of an injury glowed on the side of my faceplate. Immediately, I rerouted my subroutines that would cause me to react to the injury. This was my punishment for being too slow in retrieving the energon. I could not allow myself to treat myself like a sparkling. There would be no tears. No soothing the burning sensation that the punch to my faceplate caused. I was lucky. It was only one punch. Times before had wrought much worse for simpler mistakes.

"You are slow and pathetic. It is no wonder the Council felt it best to stop your boot camp training. No need to waste resources on a bot with no hope." Sentinel lectured me for my mistake.

Nodding, I made sure to respond immediately. "Yes Sentinel Prime sir. Thank you for correcting me sir." A glare came from Sentinel's optics and, for a click, I feared another strike. But, Primus must have been watching me at that nano because Sentinel simply growled before closing his doors.

I made it to the next hall before an ex-vent of relief escaped me. My place in the great Autobot cog was still safe. I was so weak that I could not even make it through more than one solar of boot camp. If it wasn't for Sentinel taking me on as his errand bot…they might have thrown me to the vastness of space alone…with no way to defend myself or keep myself safe. These lessons were worth the security that came with them.

The back of my chassis soon was pressed against the wall of the hall and I found myself sliding down it. This solar was full of stress and I couldn't wait to get to this 'Earth'. Hopefully, it would calm everything down and I could learn about this strange organic planet. I just had to make sure that I didn't screw up anymore.

Another ex-vent escaped me before I placed both of my servos against my fore-helm. I wished that I could help the Autobot cause more. But…I didn't like to fight a bot unless it was in defense. I didn't like to look for a fight and, no matter how much I yearned to help the Autobots in a greater capacity, I knew that was impossible. The Autobots needed fighters who were constantly ready for battle. They didn't need defensive, weak, and pathetic me out there.

They didn't need me.

 **Prowl's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Peace. Calm. Unity. My processor was completely relaxed as I worked on spreading my thoughts out of my processor. I had to perfect my processor over matter. With the rare moment of peace that the base was experiencing at the click, I knew that this was the perfect click to open my processor and try to focus on what was around me. In. Out. Peace. Calm. Uni…

"Bumblebee! Galleon! Caravel! You three get back here now!"

My optics snapped open and I almost lost my balance on my tree as Ratchet's angered vocals echoed into my room. Great. They were at it again. Sari was currently at a lesson with her tutor-bot and so that left Bumblebee and two of our three new team members to cause havoc for all of us. The victim this time, it seemed, was Ratchet.

Bumblebee's laughter rang through the base. "Only if you can catch us Hatchet!"

…They just had to choose _now_ to be as loud and obnoxious as usual?

When we were on Cybertron, Alpha Trion had suggested to Optimus that we increase the size of our team before returning to Earth. With Earth having been of interest to the Decepticons in the past, he believed that more Decepticons would now visit Earth occasionally. I knew he was right but I didn't know many bots on Cybertron…and Jazz had returned to Sentinel's team for some reason. He hadn't told me why but I trusted him.

Anyways, Alpha Trion had suggested a group of three bots, two fresh out of the academy and one veteran, who were looking for a team and felt like our team would be best. The twin femmes that were currently causing trouble with Bumblebee were called Caravel and Galleon, both a little taller than Ratchet, and, from what I was able to get from Jazz before our team left for Earth, they had made quite a reputation in their boot camp.

They were known as the Sea Terror Twins in their boot camp troop, and to many boots outside of that troop, and Jazz soon made me understand why that was exactly. While they were known for being pranksters and causing small troubles in general…like a certain yellow and black mini-bot, they were really known for their mods. Each sister had a black anchor mod that they kept in their sub-space when in bot mode. The anchors were dangerous, large, and heavy. What more, those twins seemed to know how to use them extremely well.

But, they were now disrupting my meditation exercises and I wished that the three of them would cause problems somewhere else. Ever since I had come back from being offline, I had found myself almost overflowing with excess energy. So, I was trying to meditate to reduce the pressure of that excess energy. However, those three idiots weren't making it easy.

The sound of pedesteps snapped me out of my thoughts and I focused as the final new bot on our team entered. He was the veteran fighter known as Templar. While he was only a little older than Optimus, there were stories told of his fights during the final stellars of the Great War. He had been young to the fighting and yet he had used the training he had received off-world to fight the Decepticons helm on.

"Do you mind?" Templar asked me with a motion toward my tree.

I was assuming that he wanted up and, since I was already disrupted anyways, I didn't see a problem and letting him come up. "Come on up." I motioned to the white car mech with gray markings.

In an almost effortless set of motions, Templar climbed up the tree until he was sitting on the tree branch next to me. His light blue optics surveyed my room from this height before he turned them to me. "Not a bad view. Kinda jealous I have a berth now." He started off before shaking his helm and motioning toward the main part of the factory. "It seems like our three main trouble-makers are at it early this solar."

Nodding, I motioned to the same area. "I noticed. I wish that they would take a solar break every once in a while. My processor over matter technique needs to get better but I can't meditate when the base is always so…noisy."

Templar looked like he understood my problems. "Yes, I was meditating myself, to help focus my processor so I can focus on fighting, when I heard our medic chasing after them." He then paused before motioning to me. "I was actually coming in here to ask if you would like to go on patrol. After we take a lap of the city, we could go and meditate somewhere. Of course, I would be dependent on you for that location. You have a better appreciation for Earth and where to have a peaceful meditation."

This was…amazing! There was now another bot in base who understood the training that I was trying to accomplish. In this click I felt like I was being blessed by Primus for all eternity. I nodded and smiled at Templar's request. "That sounds like an good idea. I think Optimus is in the rec room so we'll have to tell him where we are going before we leave."

The two of us then made our way off of the tree but, before we could take three steps toward my doorway, Caravel's light blue helm, with gold markings, and light gray faceplate suddenly appeared there. "Oh, here you two are! I thought I was going to have to look forever and ever to find you. I mean, you two are like the definition of hiding in plain sight kinda stuff."

Templar and I glanced at each other before we looked back to Caravel and Templar spoke. "Caravel, is there a reason you are here or are you wanting another round of training?" The training he was referring to was training in silence and being still. Like Bumblebee, they were not the biggest fans of that training.

This was exemplified when Caravel shook her helm. "No thank you! Optimus sent me to find you two. He got a message from Cybertron and he wants to tell everybot about it." She then ran off in a burst of speed.

"This can't be good." I commented as Templar and I made our way toward the rec room.

Templar nodded at my observation but chose not to answer. It didn't matter to me. He seemed to agree with me and that was the key point in that. Whenever Cybertron called, it was rarely for a good occasion. This was especially since we had just left Cybertron not too long ago. Plus, this call probably wasn't cheap and so, whatever they were calling us about, had to involve us. Great. And we had just finished taking down Megatron and his high-ranking officers while protecting Earth.

Once the two of us were in the rec center, everybot went quiet as Optimus spoke. "I just received a call from Cybertron. It seems like Megatron and his lieutenants broke out of Trypticon prison just after we left."

Wait…that was seven solars ago! Why were we just finding out about this now? I went to ask that very question but was beaten to the punch. "Why the frag did those prancing idiots on Cybertron only decide to contact us now?!" Ratchet had a way with words and, saying it mildly, he had not enjoyed his time on Cybertron and was actually glad to be back here. Of course, I was pretty sure most of us felt the same way.

Optimus sighed and placed a servo on his helm. "They just found out. It seems the Decepticons had some help because they were able to set up solid holograms of themselves in their cells and had the energon that had been brought to them when they were still captured to explode after six solars. They had help escaping and Ultra Magnus and the Council are sure that they are going to be coming back here."

Great. This wasn't good at all. We were barely able to hold our own against them before and I bet that Megatron was not going to sit back this time around. He was in optimum condition, for the most part, and I knew that he had some strange fascination with Earth. Something told me that he would send out a call for more Decepticons to come here. We did have a working space bridge here, after all, and they could possibly use that to launch an attack on Cybertron.

"So," Templar started to speak, causing everybot else to quiet down. "is the Council sending us any reinforcements or do we proceed in protecting Earth like we will be the only Autobots here?"

Thankfully, or maybe not so much, Optimus nodded. "Thankfully, the Council sent immediate back-up in the form of a detachment of the Elite Guard. It will be a team of seven and they will arrive here by mid solar tomorrow."

That all sounded good except I noticed hesitation in Optimus' optics when he had said 'thankfully'. That meant that he wasn't sure if he should be thankful for this large team coming to Earth to help or not. "Optimus," Everybot turned to me as I spoke to our Prime. "Who is in charge of this team?"

Optimus seemed hesitant in responding but, eventually, he did. "Well…it is going to be a team led by Sentinel."

While the others started to raise a fuss about Sentinel returning to Earth, I just placed my servo against my helm. I was never going to get more training in with Sentinel here. Plus, besides Jazz and the Jet Twins, I didn't know who was going to be coming with. Hopefully, they wouldn't be like Bumblebee. If they were, then I was going to never get this training of mine moving.

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Primus was looking out for me, that much I knew for sure. When we had been imprisoned by the Autobots, I had realized how far I had fallen from my cause. I had become the very monster that I had been fighting for so long. It was a miracle that my troops traveled to that Pit with me. Now, however, we had to work together to pull ourselves out of the stereotypes that were attached to us. But, that was going to take work. Thankfully, our resolve paid off the solar Optimus Prime and his team returned to this planet I was on now.

We had been in our cells, awaiting for a trial date which I knew would be long out in coming, when an old acquaintance of mine visited the cells and orchestrated our release. Checking my internal clock, I realized that the bomb we placed in the cells, to make sure the Autobots realized we had escaped, should have went off about four cycles ago. I had no doubt in my processor that they would be sending teams here.

Just let them come! I had sent a coded call out to my loyal supporters and informed them that Earth was going to eventually be my new base of operations. A part of me was just doing that to annoy the Autobots. While the Earthlings seemed to side with the Autobots at the click, they were a separate governing force than the Council and did not have to obey its whims. If Earth felt like its best interests would rest better with the Decepticons, then their support would sway. One of my goals was to convince the human governments that the Decepticons were the cause they should be placing their trust in.

That was why I also informed my supporters, in the same message, to not come to Earth unless I was called and gave express permission. I did not want the human governments to think that we were launching an invasion force. That would ruin any chance that I would have at making the humans my allies. While they were small, and weak, they had sharp processors for organics and they had the capacity to understand our technology.

"Watch where you are moving that Lugnut!" Starscream yelled at the bomber, causing me to snap out of my thoughts and focus around me. Currently, we were constructing our new base here on Earth and Starscream was in charge of making sure nothing was going wrong and, if it was, he was to inform me of the problem right away.

Up until seven solars ago, I would not have even considered letting Starscream back into the Decepticons, let alone be my second in command. Plus, last that any of us had heard, he had offlined during the final battle on Earth. But, right before our escape was made, Autobots had come into our isolated cells and deposited the seeker in a cell with Shockwave. Once the Autobots returned us to isolation with each other, Starscream explained that he had been offlined during the final battle, like we had heard, and after that he was aware of only a cold dark pain. He wasn't aware of anything and he wasn't sure how much time had passed.

A light eventually came to the seeker and told him that it was not his time to offline. This voice, which also brought warmth, had also told him that, with this new lease on existence, that the traitorous seeker had to completely devote himself to the cause he believed in. The millions of solar cycles that I had known Starscream allowed me to know when the seeker was lying to me and, in those clicks that he was telling me his story, I realized that he was telling the complete truth. With that, I had taken the bounty off of his helm and restored him to his second in command position.

Walking up to the seeker, who happened to also be standing by the plans for the base, I motioned to said plans. "How much longer until the base is complete?"

The seeker glanced at the plans and seemed to do some calculations before he spoke. "I believe that we should finish the base completely by sometime tomorrow mid-solar." Starscream then paused before he motioned to the communications room…which was the first room I made sure was completed. "Oh and Lockdown called earlier. He said he needed to speak with you on something you had asked of him before our capture."

Ah, that was right. I was going to need Lockdown's assistance in this and the bounty hunter seemed to have remembered the call I made to him before the battle that I had against Optimus. "Very well. Keep pace with the building and try to get as much of the base completed as you can. Then, when you are all done for the solar, get a cube of high-grade and relax. The Autobots know of our escape now and the solars ahead are going to be challenging for all of us."

He nodded and so I took that as his acceptance that I was leaving to make my call. Once I was in the communications room, I wasted no time in establishing a connection with the bounty hunter. Almost immediately, the screen came to life and Lockdown's image appeared on the screen. "Lord Megatron,"

And I had to stop Lockdown there. "Lockdown, I have seen the error in my ways. Simply address me as Megatron or sir if you must."

The bounty hunter smirked, to my surprise, and nodded. "That's good, because the message I have for you, Megatron, is different than the one I had for Lord Megatron." Lockdown then typed some things on his side before saying, "According to my onboard computer, I should make planetfall the solar after next. Will that be soon enough to start moving your plans forward."

Solar after next. By that time, I was sure the first wave of Elite Guardsman that they would send after me would have arrived by then and I would know what players I was dealing with. That would give me plenty of time to implement our plan. "Yes that will work Lockdown. Stay safe and arrive quickly. Before long, I am sure that the Autobots will come to this planet in force. That's especially once they find out that I sent the call out to my troops that I planned on making Earth my base."

In return, the bounty hunter nodded. "Then I will leave you to your work Megatron." He then cut the line.

This was going better than I thought. It would only take a couple of solars, and not a large amount, to start work on my main plan for while I was here on Earth. Soon, and very soon, the Decepticons would return to their true plan and we would expose the Council for what they really were…they were,

 _Beep._

The sound cut through my internal thoughts and I glanced down to see that there was an incoming call. Already? I didn't think many of my troops were near here. The ones that were, that I knew besides Lockdown, at least four solars out. They wouldn't call unless they were two solars away…like Lockdown had. So, who could this be? Maybe a report from the troops at the far reaches of space? There was only one way to make certain.

Accepting the transmission, I waited. Static filled the air around me for a nano, signaling that a connection had been made, but to my surprise no image appeared on the screen. Most of my troops had access to image projecting equipment but, strangely, whoever this was either didn't have it or didn't have it on.

"Hello? Is there anybot receiving my transmission?"

The voice on the other side sounded familiar but, before I got my hopes up, I had to ascertain that this bot was who I thought he was. "This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, broadcasting from planet Earth. Who is this and what is your location?"

As I listened to the voice on the other side, I smirked. This was perfect. This definitely proved that Primus was looking out for me. Our Decepticons were improving each solar cycle. Tomorrow was going to be a new solar and I knew that, with what I had planned, everything would run smoothly.

The Decepticons _will_ rise again.

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 **Prowl: *sighs* This is going to be very different. *glances to side at twins with Bumblebee* I'm not going to like it.**

 **Galleon: *smirks* Oh come on Prowlie, I know you like us.**

 **Caravel: *nods* Yeah we are so much fun! You all were really boring before we got here.**

 **Templar: *walks in* Both of you. Out. *stares***

 **Galleon and Caravel: *leave quickly with planning looks***

 **Prowl: *looks thankful* Thank Primus you came with them.**

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 **AN2: And here is the next exciting chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and I just want to give another shout out to my brother to have a great birthday. This chapter has a lot of information in it and I had a fun time writing it. Poor Dunce...I'll be saying that a lot, that I know. Next chapter will have some fun in it and some interesting scenes with Sentinel. But, that's not for me to bore you with now. So, please leave a review, even if it is to just say hello! Well, until then, TTYL! *thinks about watching Dirty Dozen***


	2. One Small Step

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Authoress: *blows off dust* Well, this has been sitting here for a while.**

 **Megatron: *angry* A while? It has been almost two years human!**

 **Authoress: *huffs* Well, you aren't the only story that has been waiting for an update. Just be happy that I am getting up all an update.**

 **Megatron: *glares***

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Chapter 2: One Small Step…

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I stared at the monitors in front of me as they projected the scene now taking place in downtown Detroit. I had expected the Autobots to send reinforcements to Optimus Prime's team here on Earth, but I hadn't expected those reinforcements to arrive so quickly. I figured I had two, maybe three solars, to get my base settled and everything up and running the way that I wanted them to. But, with the Elite Guard ship landing here, my plans were going to have to be changed. That was especially so depending on the Cybertronians that they brought with them.

When the bay access doors came down from their ship, I watched as a light blue blur moved down and stood in front of Optimus' yellow scout, Bumblebee. That blue mech was Blurr and I knew that we were going to have to watch his speed during fights. After him came the two jet twins that the Autobots boasted; Jetfire and Jetstorm. While they could be a challenge on their own, we would have to be careful when they combined into their unified form. They would be able to tie up one of my soldiers on their own.

Then, the Prime of this group walked down. Although, it was with much disdain that I used the word 'Prime'. The little Autobot that I fought, and who defeated me before, was more worthy of the title than this one from what I had seen and heard of him. After this bot, came the one called Jazz. He was a participant of the last battle here on Earth that I had when I was defeated. I would have to keep an optic on him.

After that mech, a dark blue grounder called Setophis walked out of the ship. While I didn't have much information on this mech, the information that I did have told me that I had to be careful. He was proficient in circuit-su and other types of martial arts that pushed the Cybertronian chassis.

When the last bot appeared at the opening of the ship, I found myself curious for the first time in a long time. I thought I had seen the files of all the Autobots who traveled with the Elite Guard. I even had the one on Setophis and he had just joined them four solars ago. However, this last bot, who was black with red hips and red trim around his helm, had a nervous look on his white faceplate that translated into his blue optics. How he had this nervousness, though, I wasn't understanding. He was the tallest of the Autobot who exited the ship, and I could see from the sides of his helm that he had the ability to produce both a battle visor and a battle mask. He was built for battle and yet he looked nervous.

"Shockwave," I addressed one of the two other bots in the room with me. Both bots, Shockwave and Starscream turned toward me. "what information do you have on that mech?"

My information specialist and tactician looked up at the monitor showing the arrival of the Elite Guard's arrival. "That is a mech called Dunce. There isn't much information on him from the files. However, one item of interest, except that he was in their boot camp for only one solar, is that he is the first bot since the middle of the Golden Age to come from a carrier and sire and not the Well."

"Very good Shockwave." While it was interesting to note that the mech was not from the Well, the other piece of information caused me to brush thoughts of the mech to the side. A bot who could not even complete more than one solar of the Autobot boot camp was not worth his time. So, he moved to another piece of information he needed. "Have you received any information from our contact on Cybertron?

When Shockwave had returned to me, I was surprised to hear that he had been able to convince an Autobot to help us and, once we had all the information that our new informant could get, they would leave Cybertron and join us Decepticons.

"No my Lord," Shockwave answered my question. "Security will most likely be tight after our escape and he will most likely not be able to get the information to us until the commotion our leaving caused calms down."

I nodded at that. It made sense. I had two main goals for the Decepticons that I was aiming for right now. The first of these was to gather any and all forces that I could to Earth so we could swell our forces. Then, we could use the space bridge here on Earth to attack Cybertron. Of course, that swell would have to be slow enough to not upset the locals.

The second goal for the Decepticons was to try and convert as any Autobots to my side as I could. This would help with the first part, true. However, there was more to this goal. I had lost myself and my goals when I had gone mad with power. During this time, I lost much support to the Autobots. With my processor working in the right direction, thanks to my capture at the servos of Optimus Prime, I needed to regain my support. I needed to show the galaxies that the Autobots were the true enemy in our civil war.

And for this goal, I planned to start with the team of the Prime that captured me. I could tell, by fighting him, that this Prime and his team truly worked to live up to what the Autobots said their standard was, and what my own was at the beginning of my fight and now.

If I could accomplish both of these goals, then I could stand a high chance of being able to take down the Council and their corrupt ways. I just needed to push forward and gain as many allies as I could. that would allow me to take the fight to Cybertron and take out those corrupted bots who thought that they could rule as they were and get away with it.

Alright, this was enough talking. Our Autobot guests had just arrived and I would be a terrible host if I did not greet them personally. "Starscream," My second in command looked to me. "have Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Lockdown meet us by the entrance. Along with our other ally, we are going to give the Autobots a welcoming committee."

"Right away," Starscream responded to me before walking out of the room, already on the comm.

As he did, I rose from my throne and, once I was heading down the hall, I connected to the comm that my other soldier gave me. "My Lord, is it time?" The voice on the other side asked me.

I could hear the excitement in the vocals that answered me. So, I did not waste time in answering my soldier. "Yes, it is. We will strike the Autobots in the open. Wait for myself and the others to be in confrontation with them before you join us. Attack the area that looks like it is our weakest point."

"Of course my Lord. Until then." My soldier responded before the line disconnected.

With that taken care of, I moved to the entrance of the base. It was time to test these Autobots and see what Optimus Prime's team had learned since our last encounter as well as see just what this new Elite Guard team was capable of.

 **Jazz's 1st P.O.V.**

This was going to be an okay trip. At least, that was what I was hoping. We had all just disembarked from the Steelhaven. When I locked optics with Prowl, I smiled before I walked over to him. "Hey Prowler, how have you been holding up?"

Prowl, in return, sighed. "My name is Prowl, Jazz. Who's that?" He then motioned over to Dunce. It wasn't too surprising that Prowl hadn't heard of the mech before. Dunce, since he was normally running around doing errands for S.P., didn't interact with many bots outside of the Elite guard. Frag, I had even heard of Setophis before, and he was a pretty obscure bot. But, I was pretty sure that, if I wasn't a part of the Elite Guard, then I would not have been able to recognize Dunce on sight.

Don't get me wrong, I was sure that just about every bot on Cybertron had heard of the bot before. He was the first bot since the middle of the Golden Age to come from two bots, a carrier and a sire, instead of coming from the Well. However, I was just as sure that many bots had never actually seen Dunce before.

So, I motioned for Dunce to come and join us. The nervous mech cast a quick glance at Sentinel before he walked over and stood next to me. "Prowl, this here is Dunce. Dunce, this is my good friend Prowl that I told you about."

To my relief, Dunce smiled at the mech and shook his servo. "It's nice to finally meet you Prowl. Jazz has told me a lot a about you."

Prowl nodded. "And it is nice to meet you as well Dunce. I think-"

"Dunce!" Prowl was interrupted by Sentinel's yell at my teammate.

As usual, Dunce seemed to sprint over to S.P. with that same nervous look that he normally had on his faceplate. "That was...unusual." Prowl commented.

"Dunce was only in boot camp for a solar before the Council took him out and placed him as S.P.'s personal errand bot," I responded to the hidden question that I was pretty sure Prowl was asking. I then shook my helm. "I don't know why, but I get the feeling that something is going on between S.P. and Dunce."

It had happened about two solars after I had returned to the team. I had been walking through the living quarters that our team shared and, when I had passed Dunce's room, I could hear sounds like the mech was struggling. So, I had opened the door and I had been surprised to see Dunce trying to fix a dent that was on his backplates. Our team hadn't had training, and even then Dunce usually didn't participate in the training given...well...his lack of boot camp experience.

However, when I had asked the mech about what he was doing, he claimed that S.P. was giving him private training to help him get to the point of maybe completing boot camp one solar. But, there had been some things wrong with that. First off, S.P. didn't just help bots like that. It wasn't like him at all. Secondly, the response he gave me sounded to automatic at the time. It sounded like he was just repeating a line that he had been coached to say just in case something like that happened.

Now that I was really looking at the mech, as Sentinel talked to him, I noticed that his faceplate seemed a little dented.

"Should I tell Optimus?" Prowl asked.

Shaking my helm, I motioned to Dunce. "No. I don't have nearly enough proof to say anything to anybot else besides you." I then looked around and remembered that this was Dunce's first time to Earth, and honestly, his first time traveling out of sight of Cybertron. "Hey Dunce, Prowl was just going to show me everything that's been changing since I was last here. Want to join us?"

Immediately, I could see the hesitation in Dunce's optics as he looked between Prowl and me, and Sentinel. "We need somebot to watch the ship and Dunce would be best at doing that."

I could see Dunce start to look defeated and so I pushed my offensive. "I think that might be up for debate S.P., but what isn't is the fact that a bot should get used to how a city is set up if they are going to help to the best of their abilities. You've been to Earth before, while Dunce has barely been away from Cybertron, let alone here on Earth."

Dunce almost looked panicky as Sentinel looked like he was being backed into a corner. Why was that? Wouldn't Dunce be relieved that he was going to be able to investigate the city with us if Sentinel lost right now? Before either Dunce or Sentinel could say anything Setophis stepped over to Prowl and me, to my surprise, before he spoke. "Do you mind adding one more to your group of three Jazz? While I've visited other organic planets, this Earth is unique among them. Plus, I could help defend you all if we do get attacked."

"Sure Set." I agreed to the mech, even though I was curious. What was Setophis up to? On our way here, when Sentinel and Dunce were out of the room, he had told me that he was really only interested in getting to the Autobot base here on Earth once we arrived to look up their past experiences in fighting here. Said that it was to prepare himself for what might show up in the future. So, why was he now suddenly saying that he wanted a tour of the city?

With the defeated look that was now on S.P.'s face, though, I wouldn't question it for now. Setophis' sentence helped get Sentinel to let Dunce come with us. "Fine. Go. But Dunce, you will be on the ship for the night to stand guard."

I noticed that Dunce looked extremely nervous at that before he nodded. "Y...yes Sentinel Prime sir." He then quickly moved over to us.

Since the four of us were now gathered, Prowl started to lead us through the streets of Detroit, pointing out different places that he thought would be notable. I was glad that my friend was able to pick up what I was trying to do. Getting Dunce away from Sentinel, and relaxed a little, might let the bot open up a little about his interactions with Sentinel. It was worth a shot at least.

Dunce, while for the first few minutes was silent, soon started to ask a lot of questions that centered around different things here on Earth. He asked what trees were, why the living plant life was green for the most part, what the different creatures that hung around humans were called, and a variety of other things that I figured he would ask since he was new to the planet and all.

Finally, though, he asked us if humans were dangerous to us. I let out a laugh at his question. "No way Dunce. Actually, most organics that you are bound to run into on this planet are not dangerous to us in the slightest."

Of course, Prowl had to rain in on my teasing. "Don't act like you've known that all along Jazz. I think I remember something the others told me about _your_ first trip to Earth. Sari couldn't stop laughing about how you thought she was going to spew acid at you."

I frowned as Prowl revealed my little secret about the situation. Of course, the frown wasn't on my face for long as the other two started to laugh at that. That caused me to smile and laugh with them. Getting Dunce to laugh like that, even a little, was worth giving up the fact that I acted a lot worse on my first trip to Earth than Dunce was right now.

Eventually, the four of us made our way to the park and, while there weren't many humans in the park, a group of six young adult males came over to us and started to talk with us. I smiled as they answered more of Dunce's questions and when they finally asked Dunce a question about our sports, I was genuinely to learn that Dunce enjoyed lobbing. I hadn't even realized that Dunce knew how to lob, let alone that he liked to.

So, I agreed to call Bulkhead to see if he could bring his lobbing ball to the park so they could show the humans one of our sports. It would be interesting to see their reaction to it. Of course, I really didn't care as long as Dunce was happy and having fun. This was probably going to be the last time he was off-world for a long time and I wanted him to enjoy every nano click that he could.

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

As I hovered outside of the range of the Autobot's sensors, but still close enough to observe them, I found myself curious. Both teams were out and most of them seemed to be enjoying watching a lobbing game that was going on, the annoying Prime looked to be begrudgingly tolerating this. And not just that, but even stranger was the upset look that the Prime was sending to the mech who couldn't get through boot camp.

And it wasn't just that. The bot that was receiving those looks seemed to be extremely worried about those very looks. Something wasn't settling right in me about those looks. They took me back to the conversation that I had on my way here with Shockwave over the comm. While the records showed that the bot had not completed more than a solar of boot camp, looking over scans of the bots that we were able to access showed that he should be just as capable as any other bot down there, if not more in a couple of cases. There was something not adding up about that mech and, while I told myself that I was not going to be wasting time on the mech that was useless on file, I was now finding myself becoming more interested in the mech.

However, while I would like to continue to watch the interaction between the Autobots below me, I did have to give them my own greeting to this planet. When I transformed, Starscream and Lugnut followed suit and, soon, we were all facing toward the Autobots, who along with their human viewers seemed startled by our sudden appearance. I smirked at that. Foolish Autobots. A large portion of them came here to chase me, surely they should be ready for an attack to come?

"Surrender Decepti-scum!" The obnoxious Prime yelled out.

….Ah, that was right. His designation was Sentinel. His name did not match him in the slightest. Sentinels were silent soldiers who kept watch. This mech just blabbered along and didn't take in his surroundings.

I let out a chuckle. "I do not see any of your Autobots that could make me, little Prime."

That caused a growl to come from the annoying Prime before he charged at me. While it was amusing to tease the Autobot, I did not want to waste time in fighting this bot. there were other Autobots that would give me a much more impressive fight. Thankfully, Lugnut took on the Prime along with a few of Optimus' team. The other Autobots and my Decepticons soon fell into battle, leaving me to fight Optimus. Out of all the Autobots that I had faced in battle, I respected Optimus here the most. While most Autobots only preached about equality and giving chances to all, Optimus and his team actually lived those qualities. They were the same qualities that I had fought for during the Great War and they were the qualities that I was once again fighting for.

Movement from the corner of my optics had me glancing to my side. I was surprised to see that Dunce was not taking part in the battle. Was that because he thought that the others could handle my Decepticons or was there another reason? While I wanted to test out that theory, I was locked in combat with Optimus.

Thankfully, I was not the only one who noticed, and my final troop arrived on the scene from the sky. "My apologies for my late arrive m'Lord. It won't happen again." Lightning Bug, the soldier who had contacted me the other night, spoke before he unfurled his wings. Unlike most of my Decepticons, Lightning Bug was a sub-sect of Cybertronian called an insecticon. And, he was unusual even for an insecticon. Instead of being like a beetle, like most of his kind were, Lightning bug transformed into a creature that matched very closely to Earth's butterflies. His wings were black with yellow spots in the four main corners of his wings that were just like a butterfly's.

But, he had a devastating power to them.

"Of course Lighting Bug." I acknowledged my soldier. Even though the red battle visor that he wore covered three-fourths of his white faceplate, the smirk that appeared on that faceplate conveyed his eagerness to join the battle.

And, as I fought the Prime in front of me, I observed as he launched at Dunce. Instead of looking afraid or nervous, as I thought I would, I watched as the before nervous mech set his pedes and took a defensive stance. As he stopped Lightning Bug from advancing too far, I noticed that the remaining humans were still trying to get away. So, was it because Lightning Bug attacked him or because the humans were still in danger that this Dunce fought?

Also, another thought appeared in my processor as I blocked the Prime I was fighting. The files on Dunce said that he had only gone through one solar of boot camp. But, the mech was fighting Lightning Bug, who was a very skilled fighter in his own right, like it was a battle exercise.

After Dunce parried against a blow from Lightning Bug, the insecticon took a few steps before his wings started to spark. And that spark was not from an injury. It was that devastating power that his wings could unleash. Lightning Bug was unusual from most Cybertronians due to the fact that his wings could draw in any form of electricity, including lightning, and store them in his wings. That stored lightning would either be converted into energon or…

"I don't think you'll block this one Autobot." Lightning Bug said with a smirk before the electricity that was sparking around both wings shot out toward Dunce.

My optic ridges raised in surprise. No, Dunce did not block the lightning. Instead, the Autobot ran _at_ the lightning and, right before he connected with it, he jumped over the attack! Lightning Bug was so stunned that he must not have realized that Dunce was on him until the young mech's pedes were landing on him, throwing my soldier back a few paces. This was not the actions of a bot who was not able to pass the Autobot boot camp, let alone only one solar.

I knew my attention was now focused on this strange Autobot so I threw the Prime toward where Lightning Bug was standing. "Lightning Bug, switch me," I ordered my solder before taking out one of my blades and charging the Autobot. It was one thing to deal with an agile fighter like Lightning Bug was, but it was something entirely different...I was surprised that the young mech was able to pull me into a stalemate by blocking both of my blades, not losing much ground himself. "Impressive Autobot," I spoke to the mech before I broke the stalemate and took a swipe at the mech.

And I was still surprised that the mech was able to quickly and effectively deflect my blade to cause me to expose myself. When they young mech lashed out right away at the weakness, I had to quickly step back. However, the young mech seemed prepared for that as he followed it up by launching at me and kicking me away. While the kick did not cause me to fall to the ground, it did cause me to lose more ground. When I looked up again, the young mech had retreated to a point where I could not continue to follow him, not with the responsibility of my other troops on my shoulders.

However, now I was extremely curious about this mech. While I had not been fighting to the top of my ability, even the young Prime that I found myself enjoying to fight would not have been able to react as quickly as the young Dunce did to deflect my blade and then follow up with a slash and a charge. This told me that I was going to be doing a lot more research into this mech. Hopefully, our spy on the Autobot side would bring me more information on this strange mech.

"Don't let them escape!" The annoying Prime yelled as I looked over my troops, who were forming around me.

"Decepticons, return to base." Then, after jumping into the air, I hovered for a few nano-clicks as I let my optics study the tall Autobot who had just caught my curiosity. Then, I transformed before leading my troops back to our base. I had much research to do and every nano-click counted.

* * *

 **Megatron: *torn* I can't decide whether I want to thank you or offline you.**

 **Authoress: *smiles* Aw, you like me.**

 **Lightning Bug: *studies Megatron's look* I'm not sure about that Authoress.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter!...Yes I know it has been a while but at least it is getting updated! I don't abandon stories, but they might sit and collect dust...sometimes a lot. But, they will move forward! This chapter got us to Earth and Megatron is now curiuos about Dunce. Where will that go?**

 **Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention the arrival of a new OC, Lightning Bug! He is going to be a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoy him more in chapters to come!**

 **Like with my other stories, I'll give you the names of the next couple of chapters coming up.**

 **Chapter 3: Recovery**

 **Chapter 4: With a Touch of Planning**

 **Chapter 5:...(find out next time!)**

 **That's all for now. Please leave a review, and if you can't think of anything just say hi! I like the hello messages too. =) So, that is all for this solar. Until next time, TTYL! *listening to Roman History***


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